Europeans need more sovereign capabilities in space, air defence and deep precision strikes, Alice Rufo said
Europeanising NATO will require the continent’s allies to invest more in strategic enablers, produce more sovereign systems at lower cost, and take on more initiative within the alliance, France’s junior defence minister said.
Speaking to reporters on Monday during a visit to the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, Alice Rufo said that to have “a stronger Europe within NATO”, European allies need to “invest more in strategic enablers” and boost production.
“We need more innovation to maintain technological superiority, and we probably need to make faster progress on sovereign capabilities, particularly in space, air defence and missile defence, and in deep precision strikes,” she said in response to a Euractiv question.
Burden-shifting is expected to feature prominently during the summit of NATO leaders in Ankara next month. The debate has gained urgency following recent US announcements that Washington intends to reduce its contribution to NATO’s force model and conduct a broader review of its military posture in Europe.
